Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
IHM Nuns Lacking Voter ID; Call Law ‘Unfair and Ridiculous’
posted on September 28, 2012Twenty-three nuns in Pennsylvania are speaking out against the controversial Voting Act of 2012, which is forcing them to acquire new forms of identification, reports Sarah Hofius Hall at The Times-Tribune. The law “requires anyone voting … to produce a photo ID with an expiration date.” In a letter to Pennsylvania courts, the sisters wrote that they represent “thousands and thousands of elder Pennsylvanians facing a similar exclusion from their lifelong participation in the democratic process. If the Voting Act of 2012 is maintained in the courts, the seniors will have a serious violation of their rights visited upon them. It must not be allowed to stand.”
Churches to Obama: Tax Us, We Dare You
posted on September 28, 2012At The New Republic, Amy Sullivan writes that on the fifth annual “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” set to occur on October 7, many conservative religious leaders will publicly endorse Mitt Romney. Because it is illegal for tax-exempt organizations to be partisan and engage in campaign activities, the churches hope to garner attention from the federal government, thus creating the perception that the “Obama administration is waging a war on religion.” But the strategy may backfire. Sullivan points out recent polls indicate that “Americans are growing less tolerant of that intermingling of the religious and the political.”
Conservatives Send Letter to Congressman over ‘Anti-Religious’ Statements
posted on September 28, 2012Conservative leaders have sent a letter to Congressman Robert E. Andes (D-NJ, 1st District), asking for an apology due to “an apparent effort to silence religious liberty concerns,” Michael Gryboski reports for The Christian Post. The dispute arose after a September 12th subcommittee hearing on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in which Andes labeled the proceedings “premature and counterproductive.” William J. Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition and one of the signatories of the letter, claimed, “…it appears that anyone can use just about any reference or phrase that may be insulting to Christians or even anti-Semitic with no concern for a rebuke from either our government or the media. I signed this letter to Andrews because it is time those who offend Christians are notified of it.”
Who Was the Most Religious President of All Time?
posted on September 27, 2012At Slate, Forrest Wickman examines the religious beliefs of past presidents, specifically looking at who was “the most religious.” Wickman finds that Carter, a self-described “born-again,” was most fervent in his religious life, with Garfield, a former clergyman, a close second. “While in office,” Wickman writes, “Carter attended church wherever he went, even while on the road, and continued to teach Sunday school when at home.”
As Anglican Church Picks New Leader, Gay Marriage Weighs Heavily
posted on September 27, 2012The Church of England will soon recommend a new Archbishop of Canterbury, reports Ben Quinn of the Christian Science Monitor. According to Quinn, this appointment will have a great impact on the heated gay marriage debate within the church. Stephen Kurth, a member of the conservative Anglican think tank Fulcrum, states, “Whoever becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury will need to have the wisdom to hold the Anglican Communion, and particularly the center right and the center left, together on the issue of homosexuality, rather than allowing those who are the two extremes on that issue to pull the communion apart.”
Read at The Christian Science Monitor
Billy Graham or Martin Luther King, Jr.?
posted on September 27, 2012Tom Airey of Mennonite World Review investigates the roots and impacts of the Christian philosophies of Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, Jr. Whereas Graham “is the face of a mostly white suburban brand of Christianity,” King, who valued compassion and social justice above all else, had a much broader socio-political impact, argues Airey. Airey writes that the difference between these divergent viewpoints effects the well-being of the “poor” and “vulnerable,” as well as shapes “the lives of Christian communities (and individuals) in radically different ways.”
Read at Mennonite World Review
To Prepare for Yom Kippur, Confess Your Sins on Twitter?
posted on September 27, 2012At Harvard, the university’s Hillel has started using Twitter as a way for members to “publicly confess their sins,” reports Rebecca Rosen for The Atlantic. Michael Gil, a co-chair of the group, says, “In twitter, we … saw an opportunity to encourage our community members to reflect upon the passing year in preparation for Yom Kippur, while also preserving some of the communal experience that we feel to be so central to High Holiday services.” Thus far, they have only received about a dozen tweets. Yet Rosen finds that the messages have been inspiring: “They’re the words of people who are seriously engaged in the ideas of sin and repentance as Jews have been doing at this time of year for thousands of years.”
Abbas Tells Jewish Leaders He’ll Be More Sensitive to Jewish Israel Claims
posted on September 27, 2012At a meeting with Jewish leaders, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed that his U.N. speech on Thursday would show a “greater sensitivity to Jewish claims to Israel,” reports Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Abbas “emphasiz[ed] what he said was the urgent need to return to talks with Israel because of protests and fighting roiling the Arab world and because of increased tensions with Iran.” Kampeas also reports that Abbas endorsed a “formula,” which would require Abbas to return to talks with Israeli leaders once a settlement freeze begins.
Read at Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Obama at the U.N.: A New Religion Doctrine
posted on September 27, 2012Lauren Markoe of the Religion News Service enumerates the five main points from President Obama’s United Nations speech. Responding to recent protests in the Middle East, Obama emphasized the importance of free speech, particularly in the realm of religious freedom and tolerance, as well as the dangers of extremism. These points taken together, writes Markoe, “add up to as close to an Obama Doctrine on Religion as we’ve seen.”
Crusaders Come Home
posted on September 27, 2012For The American Conservative, Patrick Buchanan examines United States’ foreign policy in the Middle East in the post-Cold War era. Buchanan criticizes the policies of both former President George W. Bush and President Obama, arguing that the United States’ intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts has resulted in many negative consequences. Buchanan writes, “Bush II’s democracy crusade and Obama’s embrace of the Arab Spring have unleashed and empowered forces less receptive to America’s wishes and will than the despots and dictators deposed with our approval.”
Read at The American Conservative